There are several kinds of filling materials, there are metal, resin, variety, patients are most concerned about the color of the material, many patients ask: “why don’t fillings use white materials?”
In fact, all kinds of filling dental materials are not perfect, each has advantages and disadvantages, clinical application, mainly according to the position of the tooth, hole to choose.
White filling material: similar to the color of the tooth, good transparency, beautiful, etc., is mostly used for the restoration of anterior tooth defects.
White materials are self – setting plastics, silicon cement, composite resin (self – setting and photocuring materials).
But their common disadvantage is: poor wear resistance, some materials will change color for a long time, strong pulp irritation, such as improper use will cause pulpitis or pulp necrosis;
The use of some disinfection or substrate pharmaceutical materials, such as the use of phenol-containing drugs to discharge phenol-containing materials substrate may also affect the material consolidation.
Silver amalgam as filling material has a long history. It was recorded in the 11th century that silver paste was used as filling material in the world for more than one hundred years.
Silver amalgam is an alloy made by grinding mercury and silver alloy powder, with silver, tin, steel, zinc and mercury in certain proportions, 65%, 25%, 6%, 2% and 2% respectively.
In the past 20 years, the composition, dosage form and performance of silver amalgam have been greatly improved, and high copper alloy has replaced the traditional low copper alloy in foreign countries.
The advantages of silver amalgam are: strong plasticity, easy to operate, strong wear resistance, durable and so on.
Silver amalgam is still used as posterior tooth filling material in many countries.
Its disadvantages are: the color is silver-white, far from the true tooth color, long-term in the oral environment due to corrosion and sulfide effects of discoloration.
With conductive parts, such as improper use will stimulate the pulp, lack of adhesion, so clinical need to prepare a certain retention shape, mercury groove dye.
